FOTFD - February 17, 2008
February 17, 2008
Valentine’s Day is pretty small deal in my house. In fact, here is how Stacey and I celebrated this special day last night. After work, I came home and took my son Michael to soccer practice. Once that was over, we came home and ate dinner with Stacey and Nicole, put the kids to bed a little bit later, talked about some of the things going on in our day, and went to bed early.
Yep, I am the great romantic!
Isn’t that one of the truly great things about love though? Relationships are special, whether you go out to a fancy dinner and give an expensive gift or if you spend a “regular” night at home doing nothing out of the ordinary. Either way, you are together. That is what makes it great; that is what makes it special.
What are some of the special moments in your relationship? Maybe it was a very unique evening where you did something big. Perhaps it was a time that would not stand out to anyone else except you, where you just realized that God had blessed you with a “moment.” I would love to hear about a special moment in your relationship. Share your story by adding some comments at the bottom of this page.
You may find the FOTFD online here.
Now join me as we “Focus on the First Day.”
God bless,
Mike
Echoes of careless words and slamming doors
Are still ringing in the night
I’ve taken my side and you’ve taken yours
We’re both wrong and we’re both right
Once again misunderstanding has turned us into enemies
I will forgive you, will you forgive me?
Love and learn, that’s what we will do
- Love and Learn – Stephen Curtis Chapman
Communion
We talk about the last supper where Jesus models the communion meal that we share together each week. I imagine that meal was not a particularly special moment to the apostles at the time, since they ate with Jesus all of the time and, I suspect, had eaten the Passover with him before. But think about what the apostles thought about as they ate the bread and wine and remembered that meal with Jesus overt the remainder of their lives. What did they think about when they ate the supper? What were their minds focused on? Put yourself in their place this Sunday as we share this special meal.
Sermon
“Payback or Pullback” (Bob Chisholm)
Matthew 18:21-35
Peter voiced the question, but we all ask it inside. “How many times should I forgive someone?” Why is it that when we hear about concepts like mercy or patience we want to find out where the limits are? How much mercy? How much patience? And do we see what the search for limits really means? Underneath it all we are asking, “At what point can I stop forgiving? Where does it end? How far do I have to go? Come this Sunday as we talk about, not what our limits should be, but how God’s love and our compassion leads us to respond when we are wronged.
Prayer Time
I think we usually turn to prayer when life treats us hard; we ask God for help to save us, free us, or bless us when we feel we really need him. That is good, because God does all of those things for us. But remember he also wants us to turn to him when life is good, when we feel we are in control. God wants all of you; give him not only your pain and struggles, but also your joy and peace. Share it all with God and each other as we close our worship in a time of prayer this Sunday.
We are encouraged to be a family of believers that choose to come together each week in worship. Come this Sunday with a desire to not just come to church, but come to truly be the church.
February 15th, 2008 at 11:45 am
Share your stories here on special moments in your relationships. Whether they are big events where you did something amazing, or a small thing where the moment stood out to you, I’d love to hear about them.
Mike